Machine for effecting orderly distribution of articles



T. GENSMER AND G. F. LIEBERMAN.

MACHINE FOR EFFECTING ORDERLY DISTRIBUTION OF ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- II, 1914. RENEWED JUNE 17, 1919.

- Pat ented Apr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

- I IENTORS! WITNESSES. Z z m IVT/ M By - 7% TTOR/VEK T. GENSMER AND G.F; LIEBERMAN.

MACHINE FOR EFFECTING ORDERLY DISTRIBUTION OF ARTICLES. APPLICATIONFILED NOV. II, 1914. RENEWED JUNE 17, I919.

1,336,778, Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

w/r/vEss s: "WE/W095 v u BY A TTORNEV.

-T. GENSMER AND G. F. LIEBERMAN. MACHINE FOR EFFECTING ORDERLYDISTRIBUTION OF ARTICLES.

PLICATION FILED NOV. II, I914. RENEWED JUNE I7, 1919.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I 4 F 44 4V2 5v0 5.12% 57m WITNESSES:

III

IN I/EN TORS THEOD0RE GENSMER AND GEORGE F. LIEB EEMAE, OF PGRTLAND,OREGON, ASSIGNORS '10' NU AUTOMATIGBUTTON'iATTAGHEING naonilvn COMPANY,or PORTLAND; can

eon, A CORPORATION or cane-0n.-

MAGHIIVE FOB, EFFECTING ORDERLYDISTBIBUTION' 01? ARTICLES.

Specificationofletter's Patent. Patented A 13 1920 Application filedNovember 11, 1914, Serial No. 871,601. Renewed June 17, 1919. Serial No.304,918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'we, THEODORE GENS arm: and GEORGE F. LIEBERMAN, each acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Portland, in thecounty of Multnornahtin the State of Oregon, have invented certain newand useful Machines for Effecting OrderlyyDistribution of Articles, of

which the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to machlnes for automatically assembling andarranging into order individual articles from a disordered collectionthereof. It is adapted to handle many varieties of small articles,suchfor example'as nails or tacks, to put themin position to be taken upby anailing machine, but its special adaptation and the one particularlycontemplated 1n th1s application is for setting buttons'in orderly arraypreparatory to the feeding; ofthem, one by one, to a button attachingmach ne.

Machines for a like purpose are sometimes known in the artas"hoppers,fbut.

this term besides being regarded as a misnomer, 1s believed to betoonarrow to desig nate adequately our present lnventlon which should 'be'understood. nevertheless,

tionis practically eliminated, and the end is accomplished in a machineof improved simplicity, durability, and economy of man ufacture. H

lVhat constitutes our invention will be hereinafter specified'* indetail and" succinctly set forth in the appended claims.

In'the accompanying drawings which are a part of 'this specification.

Figure I is a side "elevation of the subject matter of 'our presentinventionin preferred form of embodiment, shown asattached to a buttonattaehing'machine, whereof certain fragmentary details for convenienceof reference are shown.

Fig. II is a front elevation of the machine as shown in Fig. I,detached.

' Fig. III is a central vertical section of the subject matter of Fig.II, some parts being in elevation.

Fig. IV is a central vertical section of the subject matter of Fig. II,taken at right angles to that view, the delivery chute being partiallybroken away.

Fig. V is a top plan view of the alining member detached, illustratingthe hopper proper and raceway in their present preferred form ofembodiment.

Fig. VI is a vertical section as on the line VIVI of Fig. V.

Fig. VII is a view similar to Fig. VI, taken on line VII-VII of Fig. V.

Fig. VIII is an inside elevation of the driving cheek-bowl ofthe ease ofour'ina chine shown upon a slightly reduced scale and detached.

Fig. IX is a detail section on the line IXIX of Fig. VIII. illustrativeof one of the shovel blades of the cheek-bowl.

F ig.X'is a side elevation of the raceway hood detached.

Fig. XI is a bottom plan view of the same. r

Fig. XII is a section on the line XII- XII of Fig. X.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 indicates a medialframe-piece which preferably constitutes the support for the machinebeing itself supported as upon an upright 2 to which it is' preferablyhinged as indicated at 3. The upright 2 preferably constitutes a swivelsupport for the frame-piece'l upon the frame 4 of a button attachingmachine, whereof a fragment. in one form of embodiment, is shown in Fig.I. It suflices. in respect to the button attaching machine, .tospecify-that, in

addition to its frame 4, it is provided with a relatively recinrocatorymember 5, also illustrated in Fig. I. An intermediate bracket 6 is shownas carrying the support 2 upon the frame 4;. j

The frame-piece 1 is shown as having a curvilinear outside contour.constituting a part of a narrow cylinder having on one side a leg 7 andon the other a downwardly curved projection 8, which is the shape thatwe at present prefer to give it. It is also, preferably, of a convexshape in cross section on the inside as shown at 9. 10 indicates a lugthat is preferably disposed in diametrical opposition to the projection8, and between those members preferably extends an alining member orbridge 11, that is so disposed in order to carry a journal bearing 12,which in the form ofv embodiment illustrated, is centrally disposed withrespect to the frame-piece 1 and its complementary parts, whereof thechief one is a head-piece 15. erably is hinged to the lug 10, asindicated at 16, so that, when closed, it completes the generallycylindrical eflect of the frame-piece 1, an effect which is offset by aflared mouth-piece 17 preferably provided upon the head-piece. Alaterally swinging plate 18, pivoted as upon a screw 19, may serve as acover to open and close at will the mouth-piece 17, which, as willhereinafter appear, constitutes the feed aperture of the machine.

The-frame-piece 1 is combined, preferably, with cheek-bowls 20 and 21 toconstitute what may be called the case of our machine. The cheek-bowls,so called because, in the form of embodiment of our invention nowpreferred, they inclose the opposite sides of the frame-piece 1 andinpart its complementary head-piece 15, find means of freeintercommunication across the frame-piece 1 both above and below thebridge 11 thereof.

The cheek-bowls, are, for the most part, substantially identical inoutward form and contour, except that the one, 20, is adriving and theother, 21, is a driven member. The distinction is purely a relative onehaving reference to the fact that the part 21 is adapted to derivemotion from the part 20. Both are mounted upon and secured to a shaft 22which, working in the bearing 12 in the bridge, unites them together andoperatively mounts them upon the frame piece 1. The cheek-bowl 20 isitself, never theless intermittently actuated through relative movement,as often as it occurs in the operation of the button attaching machine,

between the parts 4 and 5, by engagement between a yielding hook 24,connected with,

the part 5 (see Fig. I) and operatively disposed in respect to the teethof an annular ratchet 25 wherewith the cheek-bowl 20 is provided incontradistinction from the cheek-bowl 21. The step by step rotation ofboth bowls, Without backward slip, is insured by engagement between aclip 26, secured upon the frame-piece 1, with the ratchet teeth 27disposed in order corresponding to that of the teeth of the ratchet 25about the periphery of the bowl 20.

Theofiice of the alining member or bridge The head-piece 15 pref slot 32which extends from one side of the frame-piece 1 to the'outer end of theprojection 8, merging toward the latter from the groove form into athrough and through slot or kerf. The function of the groove or slot 32is to accommodate and thereby to arrange in order a projecting member ofthe article operated upon by the machine, or, specifically, the eyeletor shank of a button. The depth of the groove should be suflicient toreceive the full length of said projecting member, the provision of theslot form thereof being made to afford clearance, if need be, of-anytrash which may find its way ,into the interior of the case.

The groove 32 at the end of the projection 8 registers with a slot 35that extends from top to bottom of the chute 30, whereof it is enough tospecify in the present application that it is adapted to operativelypresent the buttons supplied to it to the button attaching machine,represented by the parts 4: and 5. 1 r

The bridge 11 is normally inclined to ward the discharge end of itsgroove 32, so

that buttons or other articles tend by gravity to slide down upon it.

It being, as has been specified, the func-' ularly of. such as mighttend to clog and so interrupt the operation of the machine. Accordinglywe prefer to provide above the groove 32 ahopper proper, comprising sidewalls 36 and 37 whose inner faces are divergent toward that end of thegroove adjacent to the lug 10. Said inner faces are inclined toward eachother above the groove 32 into which they merge at their lower endsas-indicated at 38. The outer faces 39 and 40 of the Walls 36 and'37 arepreferably slightly undercut for the most part as shown in Fig. VII,while the outer faces 41 and 42 fall away sharply from the edges 43 and44: which extending, in effect, from the point 38 to the upper end ofthe chute 30 constitute that which may be designated a raceway. Byreason of the presence of the outer faces 39 and 40 the hopper propertends to throw back into' the interior of the case any button that maylodge on the outside of it, while the disposition of the inner faces ofthe 'walls 36 and 37 tends to set the button within the hopper properinto line therein each with its eye or shank properly disposed withinthe groove 32, ready to slide down the raceway 1nto the chute 30.

The intermittent rotation of the cheekbowls 20 and 21 heretoforereferred to is designed to effect discharge of buttons or other articlesas the use of the machine may require from the interior of the case intothe hopper proper, and we therefor provide within each cheek-bowl aseries of liftersor shovels each in turn disposed and adapted todischarge its load into the broad end of the hopper proper. Each shovelis preferably cast or otherwise formed integrally with its bowl and itsrim. Each is preferably trough shaped as indicated at 46 and ispreferably provided with a flush edge 47 which works shearwise against aface 48 provided to correspond with it on the re spective walls 36 and37 of the hopper proper (see Fig. III). The shearwise relationshipreferred to as well as the correlative contours and disposition of theparts, as illustrated, is designed and adapted to prevent the catchingof button shanks or the like between coacting members during and inconsequence of the operation of the machine. To the like end, we provideupon the overhanging end of the head-piece 15 an inward projection 50against which the edges 47 of the shovels 45 work as they do against thefaces 48 of the hopper proper.

Also under the projection 50 a recess 51 is provided for theaccommodation of a skeleton hood 52 that is detachably secured to andabove the projection 8 as by screws 53. The inner end of the hood 52 ispreferably inclined or curved as shown at 55 (see Fig. X) and isprotected by side flanges 56 each terminating preferably in inturnedends. (See Fig. XI).

The object of the construction described, in respect to contour andrelationship, being to eflect a snubbing action between the moving partswhich will tend to shove aside a button or other article instead ofcatching and holding it, we prefer also, for like reason, to provideshear faces 57 and 58 at the lower end of the bridge for the edges 47 ofthe shovel to work against, and also to provide buffer-faces 61 and 62at the lower end of the faces 41 and 42.

The provision made in the contour and relationship of parts will sufficefor the most part to accomplish the end for which they are contrived,namely, to insure the uninterrupted operation of the machine, butcontrariwise it occasionally happens that the desired regularity of thesingle line of but tons or articles within the groove 32 is broken by amisplaced individual.

WVe have discovered that the employment I of movement of the free endsof the shovels 45 may be relied upon to keep the line of buttons inorder and thereby to prevent interruption of the operation of themachine. The brushes which we employ for the purpose consist,preferably, of curved strips of spring metal secured, respectively, tothe cheek-bowl 20 as by screws 60. They are, by preference, curved so asto present on their down stroke a convex surface toward the bridge 11,and, likewise, are disposed obliquely to its longitudinal axis so as tomake a sweeping stroke in every instance toward the central portion ofthe case, toward which any article which they may dislodge from thebridge 11 should be projected. Such brushes might be used on bothcheek-bowls but it is at present deemed sufficient to use them on oneonly as above set forth.

In operation the case is supplied through the mouth-piece 17 with asupply of articles. say buttons, which may be as many as the case willconveniently hold without crowding, the cover 18 being alternatelyopened and closed for admitting and securing the supply of buttons.Thereafter the opera tion of -athering the buttons into the hopperproper and delivering them in desired order into the chute 30 isentirely automatic, and is accomplished as follows: The buttonsgravitate toward the bottom of the case where the contour 9 of theframe-piece 1 precipitates them into one or the, other of thecheek-bowls 2021. There they are caught by shovels 45 which lift them,through the step by step movement of the bowls, until the shovels of theopposite bowls successively pass above the walls 36 and 37,respectively. As each shovel clears the upper edge of the one or theother of said walls, its complement of buttons is discharged by aid ofgravity toward the hop per proper whose broad end lies ready to receivethe same. The inclined faces of the hopper proper tend to drop all thebuttons with sliding motion toward the lower end of the bridge. In suchmovement some of the buttons will be ejected from the hopper back intothe interior of the case where they will, in due course, be receivedagain into a shovel 45 to be again discharged into the hopper. With eachdischarge of a shovel into the hopper, one or more and usually severalbuttons will find correct position with its eye or shank properlyentered into the groove 32. Thereupon it begins its travel withcertainty down the raceway and into the chute 30, from which the buttonsare extracted one by one through the operation of the parts 4 and 5 ofthe button at taching machine. It follows that one button supplied tothe chute 30 from each shovel as it is elevated above the hopperproperwill supply, twice over, any possible demand upon the button supply inthe chute. Consequently it remains only to provide against the cloggingof the machine, in order to insure its practically continuous anduninterrupted operation. The contour and relationship of the principaloperative elements leave, as has been specified, little to be providedfor in that direction, but that little is amply taken care of in theprovision of the brushes 59. They sweep the hopper proper and theraceway clear of any but tons except those which follow in orderlysuccession in a single line, those being held thereto by their lyingflat face down against the edges of the raceway and by engagement of thewalls of the groove 32 with their respective shanks. .a

If by accident the machine should be clogged by intrusion of any foreignsubstance, such as trash, it is a simple matter to lift the head-piece15 and thereby gain access to the interior of the case, although theraceway with its slot is directly exposed to inspection and clearancethrough openings provided in the hood 52.

It may, further, be observed that by the provision of the pintle 31, thechute 30 may be removed convenientlywhereby different chutes havingcapacity for buttons of different sizes may be substituted one foranother at will.

What we claim is:

1. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with a medialframe-piece and relatively movable cheek-bowls upon opposite sides ofsaid frame piece constituting therewith a case, of an alining memberextending into the space between the cheekbowls adapted to make orderlyalinement and discharge of articles supplied to it through the relativemovement of the framepiece and cheek-bowls.

2. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with aframe-piece, a headpiece hinged thereto and an alining member, ofcheek-bowls carried on opposite sides of the frame-piece and adapted byrelative motion between them and the alining member to supply the latterwith articles for alincment- 8. In a machine for the purpose described,the combination with a case comprehending a structurally independentframe-piece pro vided on one side with a support and on the other with agrooved projection constituting a continuation of an alining memberprovided within the case, and a rotatable cheek bowl cooperatingtherewith, of a movable chute operatively attached to said projection.

4. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with a casecomprehending a structurally independent frame-piece provided on oneside with a pivotal support,

and on the other with a grooved projection constituting a continuationof an alining member provided within the case, and a cheek bowlrotatably cooperating therewith, of a movable chute operatively attachedto said projection.

5. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with a casecomprehending a structurally independent frame-piece provided onone sidewith a support and on the other with a grooved projection constituting acontinuation of an alining member provided within the case, a check bowlrotatably cooperating therewith, and a head-piece pivoted to theframe-piece, of a movable chute operatively attached to said projection.V

6. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with a casecomprehending a frame-piece provided'on one side with a support and onthe other with a grooved projection constituting a continuation of analining member provided within the case, of a movable chute operativelyattached to said projection, and a hood secured to said projection.

7. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with a casecomprehending a frame-piece provided on one side with support and on theother with a grooved projection constituting a continuation of analining member provided within the case, of a movable chute operativelyattached to said projection, and a hood secured to said projection,saidhood being provided within the case with inturned flanges upon itsopposite sides.

8. In a machine for the purpose described, a unitary structurecomprising at one end a race way, and narrow tapering side wallsprojecting a short distance therefrom in parallel relation, said sidewalls then diverging to form a hopper for the reception of the articlesto be supplied to the race way.

9. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with a casecomprising a frame-piece, and a relatively movable member constitutingtherewith a case, of an alin ing member provided at opposite ends withfaces within the case against which shovels provided upon said movablemember coact shearwise, and a head-piece hinged to the frame-piece.

10. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with a casecom prising a frame-piece, and a relatively movable member, of analining member provided at opposite ends with faces within the caseagainst which shovels provided upon said movable member coact shearwise,and a head-piece hinged. to the frame-piece, said scribed, thecombination with a case comprising a medial frame-piece and cheekbowls,provided with lifters, united together and carried upon opposite sidesthereof, of an alining member, means for imparting step by step motionto said bowls, a ratchet upon the periphery of one bowl and a clipengaging therewith on the framepiece.

12. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with a casecomprising a frame-piece and movable cheekbowls, and an alining memberadapted to receive a supply of articles to be alined from the movementof said cheek-bowls, of a frame, a reciprocatory member, a movablesupport for said frame-piece upon said frame, operative means connectingsaid reciprocatory member and cheek-bowls, and a chute hinged inoperative relationship to the alining member.

13. In a machine for the purpose described, a case comprising a rotativemember, an alining member extending diametrically-thereof, and a brushupon the rotative case member adapted through movement thereof to sweeplengthwise of the alining member to remove disalined articles therefrom.

14. In a machine for the purpose described, a case comprising a movablemember, an alining member extending diametrically thereof, and a brushupon the movable case member adapted to sweep lengthwise of the aliningmember to remove disalined articles therefrom and carry the same towardthe central portion of the case.

' 15. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with analining member of rotatable case members on opposite sides thereof andprovided with lifters, said rotatable members being movable transverselyof and in operative relationship to the alining member.

16. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with analining member having a horizontally extending axis, of a revolublemember adapted to supply articles thereto, said alining member extendingtransversely and diametrically of the revoluble member, and brushes uponthe latter adapted to sweep the former.

17. In a machine for the purpose described, the combination with analinlng member having a horizontally extending axis, of a revolublemember adapted to supply articles thereto, said alining member extendingtransversely and diametrically of the revoluble member, and brushes uponthe latter adapted to sweep the former near opposite ends thereof.

18. In a machine for the purpose de scribed, the combination with arotatable case, of an alining member operatively disposed midwise of thecase and extending into the same, said case having means thereonoperative to supply articles to said member from opposite sides thereof.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

THEODORE GENSMER. GEORGE 1?. LIEBER-MAN.

IVitnesses JOHN B. OLELAND, EARL J. CLELAND.

